This book is definitely written as a standalone, but (for the first time ever) I actually found myself hoping for a follow up novel because I want to spend more time with the characters and world. These aspects of the story were never the focus, but simply included as normal aspects of society. Within this narrative, I found people of colour, ethnic minorities, non-binary people as well as gay and lesbian characters. I only wished this part of the story began earlier in the book so that I could have spent more time with the AI.įinally, I have to mention the diversity in this book. The narrative explored the ideas surrounding personhood in a thoughtful, and sometimes humorous, way. This perspective was written in such an interesting and unique way, which made for a very engaging experience. I think this would be an excellent book to recommend for fans of the new video game, CyberPunk 2077.Īnother one of my favourite aspects of the story was the artificial intelligence angle. I loved how the virtual reality overlay that obscured, but did not completely, hide the poverty and crime of the world. The world building in this one was absolutely fascinating. He is also a freelance videogame critic, writing reviews and commentaries for The Guardian, Edge, Kotaku UK, Unwinnable, Wireframe and others.It’s always a great feeling when one of your most anticipated books lives up to the hype! Repo Virtual was exactly the futuristic cyberpunk heist I wanted! He has a PhD in European Studies from University college London, and has published numerous journal articles. He is a researcher and author who writes extensively about ideology, neoliberalism and popular culture. A timely and important book on a topic so easily and so often misunderstood, setting the terms for future discussions of gaming.” - Alfie Bown Bailes shows how the city and the virtual world can hardly be separated, making a case for a critical-theoretical engagement with games which makes their politics, importance and limitations visible. In this insightful and politically vital intervention, Jon Bailes reads the contemporary city through its representation in videogames and considers how city space itself is transformed by games. “Videogames are the battle ground on which the culture wars are fought, and the space of gaming is shaping the political present and future, whether we like it or not. In short, an instant classic for everyone who wants to understand not just games but our reality itself.” - Slavoj Žižek Through a detailed analysis of selected games, from Grand Theft Auto to Persona, he demonstrates how they reproduce the key dimensions of a modern megalopolis: the City as Playground, as Battleground, as Wasteland, as Prison… Ideology and the Virtual City is not only insanely readable in its combination of vivid descriptions with theoretical stringency, it provides an unsurpassable introduction into the deadlocks of our real life. However, this fascination with the new form should not render us blind for the fact that, in their content, even at its most magic, videogames are firmly rooted in our neoliberal capitalism and faithfully mirror its antinomies. “Videogames are gradually recognized as a new cultural form which reaches far beyond mere entertainment: they enact new forms of subjectivity and temporality. In doing so, it shows how interactive entertainment can help us better understand the different ways people relate to the modern ‘common sense’ neoliberal background, both in terms of absorbing its assumptions, and questioning them. Through this analysis, the book takes readers into a range of simulated urban environments that symbolise the hidden antagonisms of social life and create outlandish resolutions through their power fantasies. It combines a prescient social theory that describes how ‘neoliberal’ ideology in today’s societies dominates our economic, political and cultural ideals, with an entertaining exploration of narratives, characters and play structures in some of today’s most interesting videogames. Ideology and the Virtual Cityis an exploration of modern society and the critical value of popular culture. Published by Zero Books.Īvailable from: .uk Publication date: 27 th September 2019 (UK), 1 st October 2019 (US). Ideology and the Virtual City: Videogames, Power Fantasies and Neoliberalism by Jon Bailes. How do virtual cities reflect our modern social realities?
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